'Export growth dips due to global economic slowdown'

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, AUG. 2. The Union Government today attributed the dip in export growth in the first quarter of the current fiscal to international economic slowdown. The growth has fallen to 1.76 per cent during this period with June alone registering a negative growth of 4.6 per cent.

The Commerce and Industry Minister, Mr. Murasoli Maran, said any improvement in export performance would depend on the global market conditions. ``We can only hope for the best'', he said.

Speaking at a seminar organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on ``Exporting to China'', he felt the only silver lining was that the downturn in the U.S. economy could compel them to outsource from India. He added that the medium term export strategy to boost exports would be announced soon as the first draft was now being examined.

On cheap imports from China, Mr. Maran stressed that anti-dumping duty was not a permanent remedy and a mere cry of ``cheap imports from China'' would not help domestic industry. ``Just because some goods are cheap we cannot resort to imposition of anti- dumping duties'', he said.

He also took the opportunity to emphasise that no particular country was being made a target in the anti-dumping process. This was despite the fact that out of a total of 93 anti-dumping cases initiated so far by the Directorate General of Anti-Dumping and allied duties, 42 cases involved China. He noted that these measures were country-neutral and the rules applied uniformly to all countries.

Mr. Maran clarified that there were reasons for the number of anti-dumping cases against China appearing very large. Barring a few exceptions, Chinese exporters had not responded to the notices or cooperated with investigations or attended the public hearings. This was explained to a Chinese delegation which had come here recently to disucss the issue. They have assured that an internal mechanism would be developed in China to educate exporters on the need for better communication links and extending cooperation on these sensitive issues.

But he warned Indian industry that merely complaining about cheap imports would not help in future. ``Just because China is not yet a member of the World Trade Organisation, we cannot ban all Chinese exports because India has extended most favoured nation (MFN) treatment to China under a special agreement'', he said.

Citing the example of the Indian toy industry, he noted that toy manufacturers had realised the importance of product quality and design. In a bid to compete with Chinese toys, at least 15 toy firms have approached the National Institute of Design (NID) in Ahmedabad to design creative toys that blend with Indian sensibilities.

The Minister disclosed that the Department of Commerce was commissioning two studies to analyse the potential of Indian exports to China as well as the threat posed by Chinese competition to Indian exports. The results of the studies would be available in three months.

The first study would analyse India's competitiveness in textiles, leather, hardware, electronic goods and engineering sectors vis-a-vis China, Taiwan, Korea, Malaysia and Indonesia. The second study would look at export potential and evolve clear strategies for exports to China.

The Charge D'Affaires of the Chinese Embassy, Mr. Song Tao, said with the country's accession to the WTO, the country's opening up strategy would enter a new phase. A significant offshoot of this would be that both countries would have a broad and optimistic prospect for developing bilateral trade and economic cooperation. According to him, a stable and normal Sino-Indian relationship is in the fundamental interest of its people as well as conducive to peace, stability and development in Asia and the world as a whole.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Business
Previous : Bullion rates
Next     : Hyundai's April-July sales up